Books by Linda Conrad

by Conrad, Linda

  As she made change, Cisco said, “I’m looking for a canyon guide from about fifteen years ago. Maybe you could help me find him?”

  “Looking for?” the old woman asked without glancing up.

  “Let me rephrase that.” Cisco did this sort of thing as a skip tracer and wondered how much it would end up costing him. “Would twenty bucks help me locate a guide I simply wish to talk to about something that happened fifteen years ago?”

  “If you’re not a cop, perhaps,” she said quietly in a cigarette-roughened voice. Lifting her chin and narrowing her eyes, the old woman continued. “Try a name and see.”

  He pulled the twenty from his pocket and held it just out of her reach. “Not a cop. And we want to talk to a man named Shorty Tom.”

  “The man you seek no longer guides.” She tugged the twenty from his fingers and it disappeared under the counter. “But the son does. Joe Tom. Pick up his brochure from the rack over there on your way out.”

  Cisco was about to say something more when he felt Sunnie poking him in the back. “Thanks,” he finished as the old woman handed him change from the ten.

  The change was minus two bucks, but he decided it wasn’t worth making a fuss over. They’d learned enough from the old lady to point them in the right direction and hopefully not expose Sunnie in the process.

  With the brochure in hand, Cisco and Sunnie stepped from the front door. Immediately he knew another shift in atmosphere had taken over the parking lot. The air surrounding them crackled with mysterious impressions. Nothing looked wrong or smelled wrong. But whatever was different had not changed for the good.

  Sunnie apparently felt it, too. She stiffened beside him and nearly ran full-out to the Jeep.

  “Drive,” she said before he’d even buckled in. “Turn back toward the south rim. This brochure says Joe Tom guides on horseback from the Totsonii Ranch. Most of the guides live right at the ranch and tend the horses when not guiding. Maybe he’ll be there on a quiet day like today.”

  “You feel it, too, don’t you?” He started the engine and blasted out of the lot.

  She nodded. “I’m not sure what’s happening. There’s no buzz, but it sure feels like Skinwalker trouble.”

  He slowed the Jeep to the shoulder of the deserted blacktop. “Do you want to turn around? Go somewhere else?”

  “No chance. Is anyone following us?”

  “I’m too good for that.” Shifting gears, Cisco drove back onto the road.

  Rolling her eyes, she grimaced. “Too bad. I keep hoping we’ll lure a Skinwalker out in the open.”

  He slammed on the brakes, throwing her forward and forcing her to brace herself against the dash. “What? I thought you didn’t want to be recognized. You’re trying to get one of them to come for you?”

  “Not for me, Naakaii.” He caught the glimmer of humor in her eyes, but she turned her face away and silently stared out at the landscape.

  Cisco ground his teeth. So much for becoming friendly partners. Had she meant that? In his years of observing people as they made statements he’d found there was usually at least a kernel of truth in every joke. Was his presence worth no more to her than bait?

  Why the hell was he still tangled up with this woman?

  Putting his foot on the gas, he continued driving toward the ranch. He could take care of himself with the Skinwalkers. But he was through making her life easy. He’d demand all the information he needed from her—anytime he wanted. He’d be free to take other things, too. More intimate and physical things.

  This time he wouldn’t allow either of them to stop.

  Sunnie left her hat pulled low and her sunglasses in place and spoke to Joe Tom in Navajo. Cisco remained cold and distant, still ticked over her little joke. Too bad she had only been half-serious. It would make her mission much easier if they could find a Skinwalker and follow him back to the Wolf.

  That wasn’t going to happen this minute, so she continued on with their plans. The guide, Joe Tom, told them his father Shorty was indeed still alive. Today the old man was working out in a far pasture on the ranch, with the brood mares.

  Following the son’s directions, they walked through a couple of empty corrals and traveled down gravel riding paths past several barns. When they came near the black railings of an isolated pasture, instead of finding the old man, they found nothing but horses.

  “You think Shorty’s gone somewhere?” Cisco asked quietly. “Like back to the ranch for dinner?”

  She scanned the pasture, saw the mares tripping around. “I doubt it. Let’s go see what’s spooking the horses.”

  When she put her hand on the gate, Cisco laid his hand on hers. “Why don’t you stay here? It might be a rattlesnake or something.”

  Jerking the gate open under his hand and giving him the most determined look she could manage, Sunnie said, “Yeah, or something. I’m going in. You stay here if you want.”

  He shook his head as she opened the gate and stepped inside. Following her in, he drew his gun and stayed low.

  The glare from the sun, shining off rocks and grasses, prevented her from seeing the dead body in the far corner until she was nearly on top of it. Mares scattered away from the site. They ran from the two human strangers who’d invaded their territory. Ran from the mutilation and the horror that contaminated their domain.

  “Hold it,” Cisco said as he came up beside her. “I’ll take it from here. Go on back and call the police.”

  But it was already too late. Too late to keep her from seeing. Too late to save poor old Shorty Tom.

  Chapter 8

  “T his must’ve been done by an animal,” Cisco murmured aloud as he holstered his weapon and knelt to examine the body.

  Looking for answers while not touching or ruining the evidence, he noted no bullet wounds could be seen in the mass of bloody pulp that had once been Shorty Tom. But it also seemed unlikely the man’s death had been caused by fists or any blunt weapons. Both skin and clothing lay shredded in the dust and looked as though they been torn by sharp claws.

  The body had been lying there for a while. Shiny black beetles had already arrived to feed on the decay.

  “Not an ordinary animal.” Sunnie spoke without a single crack in her voice. “Ordinary animals strike from either fear or hunger. The monster who did this felt neither.”

  He glanced up. Her face was shaded by sunglasses and hat, and he couldn’t judge her mood. But she seemed much steadier than he felt.

  Not a stranger to death himself, he’d unfortunately witnessed his share of murders. Cisco had never seen anything like this killing before, though. Fighting a queasy stomach, he swallowed hard.

  Glancing back at the body, he also swallowed a tiny taste of panic. “Skinwalkers?”

  She gave him a sharp nod. “What I don’t understand is why.”

  “You don’t suppose they somehow found out I wanted to talk to him?” Cisco didn’t like the sudden thought that he might be the real cause of this old man’s death.

  “Why would that make them want to kill him?” Sunnie pulled her cell phone from her pocket. “What does an old unsolved murder have to do with Skinwalkers?”

  He shrugged. “No clue. But I also don’t know why they’re trying to find me. Are you going to call the Navajo police?”

  “The Brotherhood,” she said soberly. “We need help. Shorty’s son might think we had something to do with this. We’ll have to clear out of here without being seen by anyone else.”

  She placed her call and took instructions over the phone. When she was done, she hung up and turned to him.

  “I hope you’re up for a walk,” she said with a thin smile. “There’s an old Navajo trail behind the hill there that will take us beyond the backside of the ranch and then circle around to Three Turkey Ruins. The Brother-hood will take care of talking to the son and dealing with the body. Someone will meet us in my Jeep.”

  “Is it far to Three Turkey Ruins?”

  “A couple of miles. But it�
�s fairly rough desert.”

  She was so cool. Steely might even say it better. His stomach had finally settled, but he’d found a whole new respect for her. And for the destruction the Skinwalkers could wreak.

  “I can make it if you can,” he said with a steady tone in his voice.

  “Don’t worry about me.” She turned her back to the body and began moving away but continued speaking over her shoulder. “Better keep your gun handy. There’s a lot more to worry about from the Skinwalkers than from anything else in the desert.”

  “Do you think they’re looking for us now?” He was already reaching for the .38 under his coat.

  “I don’t know why they would be. But with Skinwalkers, you can’t count on anything.”

  Their walk through the rock, sand and sage seemed interminable. They’d agreed to remain quiet, trying not to draw attention to their movements. Cisco took the time to study Sunnie in the light of day.

  She moved though the brush like an animal. With head held high but body bent in stealth, she stalked across the high plain using the graceful movements of a mountain lion—or a black panther.

  He took note of the straight nose, the full and firm mouth. The eyes behind the shades so dark brown they were ebony. In the filtered sunlight, dappled occasionally between deep gray clouds, the tumble of her coal-colored hair hanging below the cap sparkled like black ice.

  Cisco found himself in the midst of turbulent emotions where she was concerned. And he didn’t like it one bit.

  Her dainty limbs and the slender curves hidden by the tough outdoor clothing gave him lustful urges that drove fists of fog into his normally sharp mind. A crazy admiration for the tiny woman who possessed both strength and detachment stirred within his bones. Her words could be stinging, yet her eyes sometimes filled with such need and vulnerability that he felt bound to defend her with his life.

  Something had to give between the two of them soon. He was on the verge of becoming useless as an investigator. And he couldn’t let that happen. This was the most important investigation of his life.

  Out in front, Sunnie was surprised to see they’d arrived early as she rounded one of the ten-foot-high boulders beside the path. The hogans and shacks of the village of Three Turkey Ruins were about four hundred feet straight ahead. She raised her hand to silently tell Cisco to halt behind her.

  He came up beside her and stood, staring in quiet at the afternoon scene in the distance. When a man a couple hundred yards away left his mobile home and got into a pickup, Cisco made a move that took her by surprise. Backing her into a rock crevice, he crushed in close beside her.

  “Hey, stop pushing me,” she whispered with annoyance.

  “Shush.” He lifted a hand and stroked her hair. “Don’t move. We wouldn’t want to alert the Skinwalkers.”

  Undone by the warmth of his body pressing tightly against her own, Sunnie was amazed as wisps of a smoldering fire combusted low in her belly. What was it between them that could explode so erotically and so fast?

  “You did a good job leading us here without being seen,” he said softly. Lifting her chin, he let his eyes provide a mirror to what she was feeling. “Not many women could’ve faced that horror and then marched us two miles through the remote desert without a word of complaint.”

  “I’m not like most women.”

  “So I’ve noticed.” He lowered his head so that his mouth was within a whisper’s breath of her lips. “And I’m not like most men.”

  Knowing what his intentions were, she could’ve shoved him away. But this time she wanted the feel of his mouth on her own. Wanted to experience the flames there, as well as throughout the rest of her body, especially in every place touching his.

  The actual coming together of their lips was no more than the lightest brush. So easygoing it seemed almost casual. The tender touch softened her muscles and made her growing need rise all the way to the tips of her breasts.

  A bit weak in the knees, she clung to him. And tried to tell herself it meant nothing. He meant nothing but the potential for finding the Skinwalkers. But just maybe…he could also manage to soothe the growing fire he had already ignited within her in the meantime.

  Being physically close to this man did not necessarily mean anything but simple pleasure.

  Cisco murmured incoherently against her mouth, moved to kiss his way down her throat. “I want you, míja. And have since the beginning. I want you in my bed. Can’t concentrate on much else anymore.”

  Sunnie thought of telling him she didn’t even go to bed with friends, let alone with dangerous strangers who had mysterious intentions. But in truth she wanted him, too. Badly. Urgently.

  Lifting his head, he gazed deeply into her eyes. “This isn’t the place. Though our time is close. Count it in hours, not days.” He backed off then, leaving her smoldering in the dusky shadows.

  She let out a breath, tried to tamp down on the flames but felt them reignite in annoyance instead. “Don’t be so smug and sure of yourself, Santiago. I say when things happen between us. Don’t forget it.”

  Taking her hand, he grinned in the most irritating way. “Just keep thinking about us, then, sugar. And we’ll see.”

  Damn the man. It was going to be next to impossible for her to think of much else now.

  He wasn’t happy to let go of her hand. But when Sunnie’s Jeep and another vehicle approached their hiding spot and slowed, Cisco released her, squared his shoulders and walked behind Sunnie out into the open.

  A tall, lean Navajo man with soft eyes climbed out of the Jeep and moved toward them. Once the other vehicle was close enough to get a good look, he saw it was one of the white SUVs used by the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety. Hell, he had hoped to avoid meeting up with tribal cop Hunter Long again.

  To his surprise, the other driver wasn’t Hunter. As she stepped from the SUV and stood at attention beside the door, he was intrigued to see the driver was a Navajo woman officer dressed in uniform.

  Sunnie introduced him to the man who’d driven her Jeep, and Cisco noticed the guy’s brown eyes were penetrating and all-seeing. Something about the strange eyes said the man might know more than was knowable. But Cisco didn’t feel threatened. In fact, if anything, he felt nothing but benign concern coming from the other man.

  “Cisco meet Lucas Tso.” Sunnie finished with the intros. “He’s a member of the Brotherhood.”

  “I figured that,” Cisco said as he acknowledged the other man with a nod. “Tell us what the Brotherhood has learned that can help us.”

  Lucas smiled at him. “A man who gets to the point. Okay. But first I’ll quiet Sunnie’s concerns by letting you know the body has been dealt with. Removed and on the way to burial.”

  Sunnie’s concerns? Cisco hadn’t imagined the tough but beautiful woman would have any great concerns that needed to be quieted.

  “Sunnie tries to turn her back on her Navajo heritage,” Lucas told him as though he’d heard Cisco’s thoughts. “But it is our Way to handle death by prescribed methods. Her heritage is an integral part of her being, one she cannot ignore.

  “The son of the one who died is grieving,” Lucas went on. “But he knows by whose evil power the murder was committed and holds no animosity toward either of the people who found the body. He thought you were old customers of Shorty’s. He does not know your names, nor has he asked.”

  Sunnie nodded. “That’s good. For public knowledge, I would assume Kody Long has supposedly opened an FBI investigation into the murder, right?”

  Kody Long. The other man Cisco had hoped he would be able to avoid.

  Lucas shook his head. “Any news accounts will say the man who died was killed by a wild beast in defense of his mares.”

  “Very neat,” Cisco muttered. “So why are the Navajo police still interested in us?” He tilted his head to indicate he was referring to the woman officer standing by the SUV.

  “The officer is my wife, Teal. She only waits to drive me back to my truck.�
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  “What have you found out about the Skinwalkers?” Cisco demanded in a change of subject. “Particularly the murderers. Are they still around? Out to find me?”

  Lucas stood, watching him closely for a moment. To Cisco it almost felt as if he were under a microscope.

  “We know a Skinwalker was responsible,” Lucas finally said. “But we don’t yet know the motive. I take it you think you do know the reason for this death?”

  Cisco held his tongue. While the other man was studying him, he could’ve sworn Lucas was trying to see inside his mind. But Cisco had worked to block his own consciousness and turn his mind blank. He wasn’t about to say or do anything to change that now.

  Turning to Sunnie, Lucas said, “What did you want with the one who died? Why had you two come all this way to talk to an old man?”

  Cisco wasn’t sure what Sunnie could say. Whatever it was, he feared it would be too much. He didn’t want the Brotherhood involved in his investigation in any way. For several reasons.

  Sunnie lifted her chin, removed her sunglasses and stared Lucas in the eye. “It’s up to Cisco to tell you his purpose. I am only his nurse.”

  Lucas grinned at her. “Yeah, that’s likely.” The Brotherhood member shook his head and seemed to give in.

  Then Lucas shifted back to Cisco. “Your nurse is important to the Brotherhood. We would take it badly if anything happened to her while she’s with you. Whatever it is you’re seeking on the reservation, take care not to involve her.

  “From everything we can find,” Lucas added, “the Skinwalker who committed the crime has disappeared back into his wicked shadows. There seems to be no disturbance left in the surrounding area. You two should be free to leave or stay as you will.”

  Lucas turned, began walking away, then turned back. “Your wound has healed, Mr. Santiago. Return to Raven Wash Clinic and have Dr. Wauneka remove the sutures. We wouldn’t want you dying of an avoidable infection before you can leave Navajoland.” With that and a wry grin, the strange Brotherhood member swiveled and quickly moved to join his wife in her SUV.